Field
The present disclosure is related to the inspection of bonded joints and, in particular, bonded joints between tubes and fittings in medical systems.
Description of the Related Art
Patients in hospitals are often provided with medical fluids that are administered through an intravenous (IV) infusion using assemblies of tubes and fittings commonly referred to as “IV sets.” IV sets are produced in a variety of configurations with various types of needleless access ports, check valves, drip chambers, and other fittings connected by lengths of medical tubing. Each of the connections between a tube and a fitting, sometimes referred to as a “joint” or an “engagement,” must be bonded. A defect, such as a void or leakage path, in any bond or the failure to bond a particular joint in an IV set may lead to leakage, air being introduced into the line, or other hazard and the resultant need for the caregiver to replace the entire IV set. As a single manufacturer may produce in excess of 100 million IV sets, with an average of 10 joints per IV set, the number of potential failure sites for that manufacturer alone may exceed 1 billion.
One method of inspecting the joints of IV sets is to pressurize the IV set and measure the rate of pressure decay. This is a relatively slow and costly process that requires significant capital equipment.